Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Israel prepares for a South Syria Army

"In Israel on Monday, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan was reported as saying his country should consider working with Syrians opposed to extremist Islamist battalions to create a “buffer zone” inside Syria to prevent extremists from controlling border areas.
General Golan told the Israel Hayom newspaper that Israel could work with “many hundreds” of Syrian fighters who share “a common interest” in checking the influence of extremists. He did not say whether Israeli troops would be involved, but compared the buffer zone to the border area inside southern Lebanon that Israel occupied for 15 years.
That occupation, however, bred great resentment in Lebanon and led to the rise of the militant group Hezbollah, which fought a guerrilla war against Israeli troops until they withdrew."

PS Notice that the Times reduced the number of years of Israeli occupation.